Archive for the Jewish Americans Category (10 posts)

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The following is a guest blog post by Owen Rogers, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP).

Although I’ll proudly wear the title of “record nerd,” I don’t focus on fidelity; rather tethered memories of shows, bands and the building anticipation of a long drive into the city. This past unseasonably cold weekend saw opportunity to flip through my EPs, and as I thumbed record release covers and rejected presses, I stopped to consider my copy of Side By Side’s “You’re Only Young Once.” Memories drifted to the youth and warmth of the summer 2004 Youth of Today reunion concert, where the record went flying out of vocalist Ray Cappo’s hands and into mine. More than a decade later, I look at those silver 2nd press labels and drift back to a time I’ll always remember.

A ballet of narrators’ memories, oral histories rely on research, rapport and contextual observation. In my time as a graduate student at Central Connecticut State University’s Veterans History Project, I was given frequent opportunities to record World War II veterans’ stories archived at both the Library of Congress and the University’s Elihu Burritt Library. When Burton Schuman greeted me at the door with a handshake and an offer of a home tour, he shared his framed Bronze Star Medal and a photograph of him as a young GI whose smile belied the worn leather of his boots and rifle sling. It was the mezuzah on his door frame, however, that prompted my most personal question. Burton “Burt” Schuman was one of the half million Jewish Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, and a veteran of the European Theater of Operations.

He ushered me to his basement art studio, where countless images of ducks and marsh life wreathed the walls. He explained that his artistic talents began in college and developed during the Second World War. With only one year of coursework under his belt, Schuman became the head cartographer in the G-3 section of the 100th Infantry, the U.S. Army’s “Century” division. His responsibilities were vast, as he plotted the movement and positions of 100th Infantry Division forces, developing maps drawn from front line reports and his own scouting of friendly positions. In our modern era of mobile GPS maps and pin drops, it’s hard to imagine an entire division relying on “maps mounted on four by eight plywood… on stands … on a two and a half ton truck.”

Staff Sergeant and G-3 Head Cartographer Burton Schuman (left) presenting “Heilbronn” campaign map to General Withers A. Burress (right) after the conclusion of the Second World War. Burton Schuman Collection. Veterans History Project , AFC/2001/001/85249.

For two years, Schuman made that “deuce and a half” [truck] his home. Although his wartime experiences included encounters with personalities such as General George Patton and Marlene Dietrich, as well as a harrowing 13-hour flight towards friendly lines after his jeep was shot from under him, it was mention of the mezuzah that sparked his most emotional response. Jewish American GIs faced firsthand the horrors of Nazi edicts and extermination. During his VHP interview, he recalls:

I had full contempt for them, without doubt. I saw many of the German prisoners… they would march through our command post. I saw a lot of dead Germans on the side of the road, too. It didn’t make me too unhappy, really. I mean that’s going down to the basic thought that I had.

I often think of “Burt” in the decades after World War II. Alone in his canoe, painting from life in marshy surroundings, what thoughts weighed on his mind? Through the insights afforded by VHP, we’re made more aware of the history held behind his eyes, and owe similar unsaid questions to the veterans among our friends, families and communities. Have you taken the time to ask such questions yet? If so, thank you. If not, go here to find out how.

Note: this is the fifth, and probably the last, post on Folklife Today concerning Far Away Moses, a nineteenth century Jewish guide and merchant whose face was the model for one of the “keystone heads” sculpted in stone on the outside of the Library of Congress’s Thomas Jefferson building. For the other posts about Moses, […]

In my first post about the fascinating character known as Far Away Moses, whose face adorns the outside of the Jefferson Building where the AFC is located, I covered the basics of his life and mentioned some of the ways in which his story became part of the folklore of the late 19th and early […]

Note: This is part of a series of posts about Far Away Moses, a fascinating celebrity of the 19th century, who served as the model for one of the keystone heads on the Thomas Jefferson Building. Moses, a Sephardic Jew from Constantinople, knew some of the most prominent Americans of his era, including Theodore Roosevelt […]

Note: This is part of a series of posts about Far Away Moses, a fascinating celebrity of the 19th century, who served as the model for one of the keystone heads on the Thomas Jefferson Building. Moses, a Sephardic Jew from Constantinople, knew some of the most prominent Americans of his era, including Theodore Roosevelt […]

The following guest post by Ann Hoog is part of a series of blog posts about the 40th Anniversary Year of the American Folklife Center. Visit this link to see them all! The American Folklife Center is pleased to announce a new online presentation of the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection. The photos and audio […]

March 20 is World Storytelling Day. Tying storytelling with the equinox in March is thought to have originated in Sweden as Alla berättares dag (all storytellers day) in 1991 or 1992. Other countries joined to celebrate storytelling on the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere and the first day of autumn in the […]

This week the Library of Congress historic newspaper resource, Chronicling America, will pass a milestone of making ten million digitized pages of American newspapers available free online. These papers were selected by institutions in thirty-eight states and territories, with more expected to be added. When I was working on an article, “Russian American Song,” for […]

I confess. I always get a little giddy in May. Maybe it’s because the longer, warmer days of May mark the impending arrival of summer, my absolute favorite season. Yes, I am one of the rare lovers of brutally hot, humid DC summers. Or maybe May brings out the giddiness in me because I admire […]

Jewish vocal music culture in the United States reflects the variety of the many different parts of the diaspora from which the Jewish immigrants originally came, as well as different song traditions among Jewish denominations. This essay will examine some of the Jewish folksongs curated by the Recorded Sound section, the Music Division, and the […]

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